Guernsey antics!

Over the last few days we’ve been lucky enough to be in Guernsey with their Sailing Trust as they launch their brand spanking new RS Venture keel.

The Wooden Spoon charity very kindly raised the money to buy the boat for the trust, and as soon as we got the invite, we jumped at the chance to do a spot of sailing!

Despite flying on the tiniest plane I’ve ever been on, clinging to the seat and swearing under my breath for an hour and a half, I made it to Guernsey looking forward to getting stuck in to some different sailing, some school visits and a super posh dinner!
Arriving on Friday, we quickly settled in having dinner with the Charities board members and trying to keep the calories up in our quest to be heavier!

With tide and an overly excited breeze in the harbor, Steve and I took to the water mega early on Thursday morning with the RS Venture for its first outing. It’s really a great little boat, handles a lot like a dinghy, but with the security of the seating options for those who like a cup of tea whilst they’re cruising the race course. Despite the forecast, we refused the reef option from RS Steve and popped the kite and sent it down the waves; the kids that are going to be using this boat are in for a treat!!

The rest of the day was spent racing around trying to fit as much in as possible… We did a school visit, a Yacht club visit, as well as sneaking in a little visit to the Beach Hut restaurant in the bay! We even snuck off when no one was looking at the school to test their amazing climbing wall…

The school was probably the best bit of the day; the kids were so open and brutally honest with their questions- I even got asked if I was on a TV show… No idea who I’m supposed to look like??

Despite everything that has happened over the last 2 years with the failings of the Executive Committee of the former IFDS and the resulting disaster of sailing being dropped from Tokyo and the 2020 Paralympic Games, its trips like this that really make me hopeful that disabled sailing will survive in some form. It may not be how we expected, and it certainly won’t be the same in terms of the ISAF World Cup, and the circuit we are so lucky to travel, but at least the kids on this Island will have something to enjoy, after all sailing really does inspire confidence and independence, no matter what your disability!

So that’s another place ticked off the “places I need to see” list, as well as fully confirming the fact that I really do need to get better at flying…

Lets see if I’m any better with ferries??